NORRISTOWN — A “senseless” act of gun violence, fueled, in part, by social media and text messaging between two men involved in a dispute, ended in a murder conviction and prison time for an Abington man.

Andre “Dre” Dula, 23, of the first block of North Hills Avenue, appeared numb in Montgomery County Court as he was sentenced to eight-to-16 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, in connection with the 9:33 p.m. July 17, 2012, shooting death of 27-year-old William Benjamin Butler during a confrontation near the North Hills Train Station.

Dula did not respond to a reporter’s questions as sheriff’s deputies escorted him from the courtroom in handcuffs for the trip to prison. A female friend of Dula’s shouted, “Love you Dre,” to Dula as she tried to block a reporter’s view of Dula and then made a derogatory remark about the reporter.

During Friday’s hearing, the courtroom, heavily guarded by sheriff’s deputies, was packed by the emotional friends and relatives of both men. Authorities prohibited spectators from taking their cell phones into the courtroom during the sentencing hearing.

Dula and Butler, authorities alleged, had been arguing for two days prior to the shooting over “trash talking,” according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective Michael Begley and Abington Detective Robert Wilsbach.

“This is a prime example of how dangerous social media can be, how it can escalate, a simple disagreement that becomes this senseless violence,” said Assistant District Attorney Kelly Lloyd, who argued for a minimum of nine years in prison for Dula. “The defendant and the victim get into a scuffle and the victim comes to settle their beef and the defendant pulls out a gun and ends up shooting him.

“The whole thing was escalated through social media, all this trash talking going back and forth. It was going on for days,” Lloyd added. “There was trash talking over Facebook and threats via text message, things that don’t go away in this information age, and the anger fueled inside of them and that’s basically what happened here.”

Testimony revealed that over the course of several days prior to the murder the men were text messaging each other extensively and some of the messages were aggressive in nature.

Dula and Butler got drawn into a feud between other family members or friends and then argued with one another. Authorities, based on witness interviews, alleged in court papers that the ongoing dispute between the men may have concerned Dula’s previous relationship with Butler’s sister.

Lloyd argued Dula chose to brandish a gun when he could have simply retreated and gone to his home, which was nearby.

But defense lawyer John I. McMahon Jr. argued there were mitigating circumstances in the case, hoping for a minimum sentence of about 6 ½ years for Dula.

“Mr. Dula’s actions that night are not excusable. But when it happened, he was under a serious state of provocation,” McMahon argued, implying Dula acted more with extreme recklessness than with intent to cause harm.

According to testimony, Butler was with several others in two or three cars looking for Dula near his home. When Butler saw Dula, he got out of one of the cars and confronted Dula. Testimony revealed Butler threw a bottle at Dula and may have punched Dula in the head during the confrontation.

McMahon added Dula cooperated with authorities and turned himself in the following day when requested and tried to help authorities find the gun that he discarded after the shooting. That gun apparently was not found.

But prosecutors argued Butler began to flee the fight and rather than let it go, Dula pursued him before shooting three times, hitting Butler once in the back.

“He didn’t take the time to walk away. He didn’t take the time to cool off,” said Lloyd, referring to Dula. “This incident happened less than a block from his house. He could have run to the safety of his own home and been fine, instead he decided to chase after the victim and shoot him.”

Dula apologized to Butler’s family, claiming he was sorry he caused them sorrow.